Chapter 63: Cutting Through the Chaos with a Swift Blade

“36,764 taels…”
Jiang Ningxue gently moved the abacus beads with her delicate fingers, answering Liu Yu’s question softly, “It’s not enough.”
Liu Yu was also calculating using a ledger. “Ningxue, how much private money do you still have? We really need to use it this time.”
Jiang Ningxue had saved quite a bit of money for Liu Yu. She quietly took out a ledger from the bookshelf, opened it, and did some careful calculations. “2,762 taels.”
Unable to bear to see Liu Yu’s disappointed look, she added, “I also saved 400 taels for our wedding preparations…”
All this money combined still fell short of 40,000 taels, while Desmond’s demand was a full 107,000 taels. He wouldn’t budge, insisting that any price lower than that would result in no profit.
Realizing he had to solve this urgent financial problem on his own, Liu Yu asked, “Ningxue, how much more do you think we can raise?”
“The Huajian Sect can surely provide 180 taels,” Jiang Ningxue continued. “We can borrow a few hundred taels from the Front Camp and the Left Camp. As for the other camps, it’s uncertain. Our Silvery Willow Camp might be able to raise a few thousand taels.”
Liu Yu racked his brains for a long time but came up with no good solution. That was all the cash he had; he simply couldn’t come up with more.
He knew Desmond’s proposal was the most cost-effective—low spending and quick results—but he simply couldn’t come up with 100,000 taels. He said to Jiang Ningxue, “Try negotiating further with this arms dealer. Since he’s already brought the machinery to our dock, surely he doesn’t want to take it back.”
Jiang Ningxue replied softly. Liu Yu then thought about where to find money. “Should we resell the weapons Desmond brought? The Front Camp is already eager for those rear-mounted guns.”
Jiang Ningxue came up with an idea. “Just say that a batch of rear-mounted guns has arrived recently, and ask each camp to pay a deposit in advance.”
Liu Yu was inspired by her idea. “I won’t mention exactly how many guns there are—just say it’s a significant number. Whoever pays more in deposits will get a larger share. That should at least give us 4,000 to 5,000 taels for immediate use.”
Thinking of this, he came up with a few more makeshift solutions, though they might not be much help, they could at least provide some relief. “Alright! Let’s go eat.”
Both of them were in good spirits. But just as they stepped outside and took a few steps, Lian Jincheng rushed over with fierce determination.
“Jincheng!”
Liu Yu saw that Lian Jincheng seemed murderous, clearly determined to confront them. “What’s wrong?”
Jiang Jincheng, who didn’t like Lian Jincheng at all, immediately stood in front of Liu Yu to protect him. The atmosphere became tense instantly. Lian Jincheng grabbed Liu Yu’s hand and asked, “I heard Desmond is selling you machinery to make bullets and guns. Where did you get the money? Are you not going to carry out this business?”
With this argument, onlookers gathered around, especially since the identities of the two parties made the situation even more interesting to them.
“Where will you get those 5,000 taels? You promised to pay them the day after tomorrow. If you don’t, our business will have to stop.”

“What kind of talk is this!” Liu Yu retracted his hand but didn’t pull it back and said to Lian Jincheng, “How can we discuss such matters in this kind of setting? Let’s talk behind closed doors and discuss it properly.”
“No way!” Lian Jincheng had invested most of his wealth in this project. While fighting with Jiang Ningxue, he said, “I want the money today.”
Liu Yu also got angry: “Even according to what we agreed beforehand, I’m supposed to pay you the money the day after tomorrow.”
“I want to see the money today! If I don’t get those five thousand taels, I won’t stop.” Lian Jincheng no longer had his usual composure; he firmly grabbed Liu Yu’s hand. “It was you who initially pushed for this project.”
He had invested most of his wealth and a year’s worth of effort into this project, but without new funding, it would definitely come to a halt. Today, he happened to meet Desmond, his supplier for arms deals with Deng Cunyu. They chatted for a while.
Desmond accidentally revealed a bit of information, and since Lian Jincheng was well aware of Xiliuying’s financial situation, he immediately rushed to Liu Yu: “I don’t care how much you invest on Desmond’s side! But you’ve gone too far with this deal—you need to get the money today.”
Seeing Lian Jincheng’s angry demeanor and the crowd gathered around, Liu Yu also got angry: “Let’s settle this today. Ningxue, call Deng Cunyu, Desmond, and Liu the Broker here. Let’s discuss everything in the reception hall.”
The reception hall still felt oppressive. Lian Jincheng spread his arms and said, “We can’t afford not to have money. Dozens of people rely on us for food, shelter, and other needs every day. If we run out of money in half a month, we’ll have to close down. We need new funding.”
As for Liu the Broker and Deng Cunyu, they both gave Lian Jincheng angry looks. He was too reckless—just because he heard a piece of information, he went straight to harass Liu Yu. Didn’t he know what the word ‘death’ meant? This was Xiliuying’s territory.
Deng Cunyu glanced at Desmond, his supplier. This Dutch merchant had brought arms and equipment straight to Shanxi this time—wasn’t that trying to snatch his share of the market?
Both of them temporarily forgot about the crucial issue of the five thousand taels. They were both worth tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, so five thousand taels wasn’t enough to shake them.
They picked up two high glasses and toasted each other, while Desmond remained the calmest.
It was then that this Dutch arms dealer realized he had greatly overestimated Liu Yu’s purchasing power—this was his biggest mistake.
It seemed Liu Yu could only get half of the money. Although that would cover his costs and even yield a profit, it wasn’t enough for the substantial profits he had expected.
He became interested in the project Lian Jincheng mentioned, one that required Liu Yu to invest another five thousand taels: “Liu? Care for a drink?”
At a glance, Liu Yu saw that Jiang Ningxue was standing at the door holding it open for him. Then he scanned the room.
Desmond, Liu the Broker, Deng Cunyu, Lian Jincheng—he could smell the scent of greed around them. Their relationship with him was based on money. When he failed, they would abandon him in a hurry.

He picked up a Chinese-style teapot and skillfully poured tea into his porcelain cup. After taking a sip, he officially began today’s discussion: “Gentlemen! My loyal friends, as you know, I’ve recently encountered some minor troubles with cash flow.”

Desmond said, “We’ll do our best to help.”

Liu Da Maiban added, “We’ll certainly try our utmost to assist you.”

Deng Cunyu smiled broadly and said, “I can lend you some money, though the interest might be a bit high.”

Lian Jincheng sat aside, hands clasped, head bowed, silent.

Liu Yu pointed at Desmond and said, “Here, I still want to thank Mr. Desmond. Let me explain the specifics. Under normal circumstances, my warehouse holds about 50,000 taels of hard currency. Recently, I promised to join Liu Maiban and Mr. Deng in a profitable investment venture, with each of us contributing 5,000 taels.”

He used “investment venture” to refer to counterfeit currency production. Liu Da Maiban and Deng Cunyu nodded in agreement. Liu Yu continued, “But thanks to Mr. Desmond, he provided me with what I needed most—ammunition, rifles, and machines for manufacturing rifles and bullets, totaling 100,000 taels.”

Desmond felt compelled to add, “This is a very favorable price. In China, this amount would only be enough to establish a small arms factory.”

Liu Yu was already used to Qing officials’ greedy tactics: “But the problem is that combining these two amounts with other recent expenses, I need to pay around 120,000 taels. I can’t raise that much cash.”

100,000 taels! That was an enormous sum.

Desmond also presented his own conditions: “You know, I’m an honest and upright businessman who never seeks excessive profits. So I only accept hard currencies like platinum, silver, francs, pounds, and dollars.”

He added, “Of course, if there’s contraband, I might consider it on a case-by-case basis.”

That was exactly the kind of hard currency Liu Yu lacked: “I understand what you mean, but that’s where the problem lies.”

Lian Jincheng, who had been sitting with his head bowed, suddenly said, “I hope you’ll pay the promised 5,000 taels first.”

“No! No! No!” Faced with such an unreasonable request, Desmond offered extremely favorable terms: “This is a big deal, so it should come first.”

Liu Da Maiban was very dissatisfied with his words: “There should be some order—first come, first served.”

Deng Cunyu smiled slyly: “So you’re short of cash now. How about borrowing from me? The interest is just a bit high.”

He was a well-known expert in usury, ruthless to the point of not even leaving bones behind. Meanwhile, Liu Yu calmly spread his arms and said, “I think I’m still able to pay Mr. Desmond’s 100,000 taels.”

Desmond grew nervous: “I don’t accept any form of credit or installment payments. I’m an honest businessman who never seeks excessive profits.”

“No! No! No!” Liu Yu laughed. “Have you heard of licensed production?”

“What’s that?” Desmond said seriously, “I’m an honest businessman.”

“One type of licensed production—for example, if you authorize me to produce Snider rifles, then for each Snider rifle I produce, I must pay you a certain amount in silver as a licensing fee, and the same goes for bullets.”
Demons was somewhat aware of this: “Is it still paid in installments? I’m not optimistic about your armory’s production capacity…”
He knew quite well the production capacity of the equipment he sold; even with sufficient materials and under ideal conditions, they could only modify one breechloader per day and produce a few hundred bullets.
Such licensed production was practically meaningless if it couldn’t result in ten thousand rifles and a million bullets: “I’ll deduct two thousand taels from that, but we’ll still go with a buyout—I want to pay in full at once.”
“We can’t go below five thousand taels for our project. I hope to pay it off today.” On the other end, Lian Jincheng also put pressure on Liu Yu: “I know you have that money right now.”
Deng Cunyu was still offering his usury services: “I can lend you money for short-term use.”
Liu Yu took a deep breath. As a major merchant, he knew Liu Yu had guns and territory but was currently facing cash flow problems. He even added, “Do you need any help?”
“Yes!”
Liu Yu’s voice grew serious: “I need your full assistance. I already have an idea.”
“What idea?”
Liu Yu stared at the snow-white ceiling and slowly explained his plan: “A loan.”
“Dear friend, are you joking? We don’t have any collateral.”
In this era, only Chinese-style money houses and banks didn’t require collateral. Most Western banks in the East demanded collateral before granting loans.
Liu Yu did have sufficient collateral, but neither the rifles held by the infantry nor the machines in the armory could be accepted as collateral by ordinary banks.
The major merchant explained from a professional perspective: “No bank would dare to lend to a small local warlord like you—the risk is too high.”
“There is one. I’ve already thought of it.”
“Which one?”
“The Banque Orientale de France.”
As soon as Liu Yu mentioned this, the major merchant almost fell off the sofa. What name had he heard? The Banque Orientale de France! That was a French colonial bank. How could it possibly lend money to Liu Yu, whom they hated the most? Yet Liu Yu had come up with a clever reason: “I heard last year the Banque Orientale de France failed to meet its lending targets.”
“They won’t lend you money.”
As Demons considered whether to give Liu Yu more profit, he heard Liu Yu say, “It’s not a loan for me—it’s a loan for Mr. Demons.”
The major merchant immediately understood. This move was indeed cunning, but Demons refused: “I’m a honest businessman who never seeks excessive profits. Don’t put the risk on me.”
Liu Yu then changed the subject: “Mr. Demons, have you heard of the legend of gold in Shanxi?”
Deng Cunyu interjected, “Are you planning to go this far?”

For a long time, there have been legends that Shanxi in Vietnam is rich in gold sand. These legends were so popular that during the Sino-French War, when the French forces occupied Shanxi City, their first task was to search for these legendary gold mines. Yet they found nothing. History has proven that Shanxi only has some scattered gold sand, with no large gold mines as rumored.

“There’s no need for Mr. Demons to take any risks! By the way, Liu Da Maiba, do you know which employees are more easily influenced?” Liu Yu already had a plan B: “Here’s what I’ll do—tomorrow I’ll spread the news that a large gold mine has been discovered in Shanxi…”

“From now on, as the governor of Shanxi, I will grant the Demons Trading Company the rights to exploit all gold mines in Shanxi… no, in the entire Sanxuan region, including two highly productive gold mines. The Demons Trading Company can then use these rights as collateral to obtain loans from the Oriental Bank of Commerce…”

“With such a promising project handled by a reliable Dutchman, and enough money given to the loan officers, they will surely approve the loan.”

“Additionally, Mr. Demons, I can arrange for a new company to be established, allowing you to transfer the debt there without bearing any risk.”

Liu Yu paused briefly after saying this.

“Now you have two choices. One is to terminate this deal between us, but I can use my cash to buy some weapons. I’m sure you’ve spent quite a bit on public relations to come to Shanxi this time, right?”

“The other choice is to cooperate with us. Not only will you get the full amount, but you might even get more.”

Demons had already spent thousands of silver coins on this trip to Shanxi, leaving him with no way back: “I’m a honest businessman who never seeks excessive profits. So let’s cooperate.”

A master of fraud!

That was the only thought in Liu Da Maiba’s mind. Liu Yu continued, “It might be a bit more complicated, and it could take longer before you get the money. But even if there are losses, it will only be the fake collateral.”

As for making these worthless gold mining rights seem valuable, that depended on their skills.

Meanwhile, Liu Da Maiba smiled: “Dear Liu Yu, this is indeed a good idea. But I have a new suggestion now.”

He couldn’t forget being driven out by the Oriental Bank of Commerce. He was eager to take revenge on his former employer and gain benefits for himself: “I suggest going bigger—include the additional investment for that deal as well.”

Liu Yu liked the idea of using the Oriental Bank of Commerce’s loan to figure out how to produce fake francs: “No problem. It depends on your methods.”

Liu Da Maiba was the best at this: “Those scumbags at the Haiphong branch—give them enough money, and even if you slept with their wife, they’ll still lend you money.”

“The Red River trade route is currently monopolized by Polish merchants. They always borrow money from HSBC. Last year, they failed to meet their lending targets and were severely criticized by the head office. So you’re right—given such a good project, the Oriental Bank of Commerce will surely come to you for a loan.”

Liu Yu backed down a bit on this issue: “Borrowing such a large amount of money—won’t there be problems?” He knew a bit about financial rules; a loan of this size must have exceeded the limits set by a branch and required approval from the head office. To his surprise, Liu the Importer laughed and said, “Just break it into several projects.” Everyone knew that the loans issued by BNP Paribas were bound to be a waste of effort. Desmond could operate under a different guise, and Liu the Importer and the Frenchman Deng Cunyu wouldn’t have any way to hold them accountable—the key was how to package it. “It’s better to break it apart!” Deng Cunyu explained from a professional packaging perspective: “Using new debts to repay old ones makes the financial statements look better.” As for profit distribution, it was understood that Liu Yu and Desmond should get the bigger share, but it had to be those scumbags, Deng Cunyu and Liu the Importer, who carried out the loan fraud, with a plan to later use force to silence some employees. As for the quality of employees at the Haifang Branch, Liu the Importer had the final say: “From senior managers to local staff, everyone just wants to make money. If not, why come to our small port in Shanghai? Money makes things easier—I’ll cover the public relations expenses for now and settle it later.” Meanwhile, Deng Cunyu thought further: “Besides gold mines, iron mines and coal mines seem like they can also be sold…” Liu Yu spoke decisively: “No rush. Let’s enjoy this first ‘crab’ first.” Everyone knew that in the end, Liu Yu would have to bear the Frenchmen’s anger no matter what. He was trapped—France would definitely cause him trouble—but by then, everyone would have already split up the money and gone elsewhere. Liu the Importer thought of another idea: “Spread more rumors, create fake mineral deposits. When the credit officers come for inspection, treat them well so they write favorable reports. And… after Desmond steps back, who will take charge of the new company?” “It’s not hard to find a foreigner from Shanghai,” Liu said. “The key is deception—deception! Give women what women want, give money what money wants, and offer gifts during festivals.” “Great idea! Let’s borrow more new debts to repay old ones.” Liu the Importer was still resentful about this: “By then, the Haifang Branch’s financial statements will look great.” Deng Cunyu, who always liked to take big risks, came up with another bad idea: “What’s there to worry about? Once we taste this first ‘crab,’ we won’t worry about future loans not coming through. If the credit officers reject them, we’ll just tell them the truth—you’ve already caused BNP Paribas hundreds of thousands of francs in losses, and the only hope is to invest more money to fill the hole.” This was exactly the mindset of a gambler. Even Desmond was now figuring out how to package himself to secure the most profitable deal since arriving in the East. While this was going on, Lian Jincheng tried to slip away, but Liu Yu spotted him and shouted, “Stop right there!”